NASA Cassini probe captures stunning Saturn photo

By Brian Mastroianni

April 5, 2016 / 3:45 PM
/ CBS News

An image of Saturn, taken by the Cassini probe on Feb. 19, 2016. The spacecraft captured this image from roughly 1.2 million miles, at 7 degrees above the ring plane using its wide-angle camera. The moon Dione can be seen in the lower left of the image.
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

On Monday, NASA released a stunning new view of the ringed planet Saturn. Black and white, the picture looks almost like a charcoal painting, offering a close-up view of the giant planet.

The shot shows a half-lit Saturn sitting askew as the planet's moon Dione peaks out from bottom left corner. The image was taken by the Cassini spacecraft's wide-angle camera on Feb. 16, 2016, according to a NASA release.

The camera used a spectral filter that preferentially admits near-infrared light wavelengths that are centered at 752 nanometers. The view was taken at a distance of about 1.2 million miles away from Saturn.